British-born India Hicks revels in her home in the Bahamas.

Our home has evolved over time, layer upon layer, into a truthful representation of who we are. It is not a status symbol and certainly lacks pretension. Hibiscus Hill was built in the 1950s, but we endeavored to make the villa look like it was built in the 1850s. The house sits on three acres of rolling garden that stretch inland from the top of the dunes, with jungle on two sides and a valley of coconut palms on the other. The site looks out over the distant rooftops of town to the harbor and the setting sun.
India and Domino at play.

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Miguel Flores-Vianna

Feels Like Home

When we originally saw the house, peeking in the windows together, it was love at first sight. David remembers that I said simply, "It feels like home." That was in 1996. During the next fifteen years, we have enjoyed transforming Hibiscus Hill.

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Miguel Flores-Vianna

Accumulated Furniture

Wherever possible, David and I removed the original cement, tile and glass and replaced them with the softer and more natural materials of wood, paper and straw. In the dining and sitting rooms, we overlaid the floors with wood, using some unusually large fir planks that are a foot wide and, in some cases, sixteen feet long. We stained them a dark oak shade, although they now boast an aged patina of their own.
The dining room, with antique furniture, bespeaks hospitality by way of pineapple table lamps and a bronze ice bucket as centerpiece.

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Miguel Flores-Vianna

Respite From Color

Travel is one of our most effective sources of inspiration, and we found a large quantity of our furniture, including our dining table and chairs, in New Orleans. Almost all the rooms in the house are decorated in fairly muted tones, offering a respite from the brightness outside. That is, apart from the odd moment when we broke the rule and painted a staircase bougainvillea pink, upholstered a sofa in dusty watermelon and painted a study in screaming fire-engine red.
Classic Caribbean low-key style mixes with a French antique mantel and mirror.

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His Study

Our two studies express different styles: his and hers, decorated without compromise. Hers, the red office, took four coats of gloss to cover the drywall. His is the more predictably masculine study, where the atmosphere is something likea captain's cabin on an old schooner. The mahogany-stained bookshelves and the flush brass door handles were purchased from a boat chandler.
David's study, in mahogany and Brazilian ipê, charts a masculine course with its zebra-hide safari chair, sailboat model and seascapes.

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Her Study

My famed interior decorator father, David Hicks, was renowned for using almost any available flat surface to create what he termed "tablescapes." This inheritance has become something of an obsession in our house. The center of oursitting room is dominated by a mini-museum of disparate and eccentric objects.
In India's study, a sketch of her mother.

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Cotton Canopy

A traditional cotton canopy dresses the four-poster bed named after her grandfather.

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Plantation Living

The bedroom walls are covered by hand-colored tropical bird prints, found in London and dated 1820. They reinforce the feeling of a period plantation house. We cherish theoriginal floor tiles, manufactured by Cubans and brought to Nassau in the 1950s.
An unprecious blend of furniture in a breezy guest bedroom.

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International Traditions

We try to give the rooms of our four children a strong sense of individuality yet never drift too far from our DNA: a combination of international lives, classic British taste, including its eccentricities, and the traditions and flavor of the Caribbean.

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Family History

Our home is a storehouse of family history, a living archive that holds the treasures of our personal life. It speaks of where we've been, who we are and the distinctive style cultivated by our journey together.
Art brings global allusions to the island house.

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The Family Pet

Jenga, the family's macaw.

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Lazy Days

India and Domino on a lazy afternoon.

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Shaded Pergola

A shaded pergola is perfect for a midday nap or a quiet conversation.

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Safari-inspired

India's travels on safari in Africa inspire her to set a formal table outside in the open.

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Rough Water

No swimming allowed when Neptune rules the waves.

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Red Vignette

A vignette in red, dark wood and leather.

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Pink Nook

Always in the pink, Domino's antique bed nestles in a nook amid hand-colored English prints.

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Silver Collectibles

Taking a cue from India's father, another sterling tablescape.

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Quality Time

India and Domino share a mother-daughter moment in their sun- kissed private world.

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Cherished Memories

India's desk holds one of her favorite mementos: a rose from Princess Diana's bridal bouquet. (India was one of the flower girls at the royal wedding.)

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Island Playground

Felix, Amory, Conrad and Domino's playhouse, designed by their father and painted red, white and blue after the Union Jack.

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